The First Lady has arrived in Copenhagen in advance of the 121st International Olympic Committee Session that will determine on Friday whether her hometown hosts the 2016 Summer Olympics.

“I’m so happy to be here, so excited,” the First Lady said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do. We’re not taking anything for granted, so I’m going to go talk to some voters.”

She will lead the US delegation in Copenhagen until President Barack Obama arrives on Friday in time for the final presentations before the IOC vote.

But until he does, she and the Chicago 2016 team will be handling our Olympic business.

On Thursday, the First Lady will meet with IOC President Jacques Rogge and attend a luncheon hosted by Queen Margrethe II of Denmark at the Amalienborg Palace.

She'll be attending the IOC Session Opening Ceremony at the Copenhagen Opera House that night.

The First Lady and the President will both make presentations before the IOC on Friday morning. According to the White House, "They will discuss why Chicago is best to host the 2016 Summer Games, and how the United States is eager to bring the world together to celebrate the ideals of the Olympic movement."

Being a Chicago native, The FLOTUS is definitely the right person to sell the world in bringing the 2016 Games to Chicago. She knows the neighborhoods where the Games venues would be placed, she grew up on the Chicago's South Side and lived just a short walk from the planned Olympic stadium before moving to Washington.

And she's one of the few people on the world stage whose popularity rivals her husband.

Oklahoma state Rep. Sally Kern, one of the GLBT community's virulent Christohaters, will have to fight to keep her office in 2010.

After spending a few weeks exploring her political options, civil rights attorney Brittany Novotny announced on September 27 she is going to challenge Oklahoma's nationally renowned hater.

The voters of House District 84 deserve a representative who will fight for them. So today, I’m officially announcing my candidacy for State Representative. I believe I have the drive, dedication, and determination to fight for the people of the district on the real issues they face—jobs, education, and transportation. I look forward to the opportunity to meet with my neighbors and voters in the district in the coming year as we build this grassroots campaign to give the voters a real choice to have a representative who will fight for their issues and build a brighter future for Oklahoma.

If you think I'm kidding about Sally Kern, peep what she had to say in the district about the GLBT community.

Kern's homophobia according to several business people has cost Oklahoma jobs. Two corporations that were set to move high wage jobs to the state changed their mind after hearing Kern's anti gay tirades.

Novotny is attempting to make history in the process. If she's successful in knocking off the homobigot Republican (what else?) in their race to represent Oklahoma's 84th House district, she would also become the first US transperson to be elected to a state legislative body.

While both candidates stated they want to keep the race focused strictly on the issues facing the people of Oklahoma's 84th district, you know the Reichers aren't going to let Novotny's trans status slide without some attacks, especially if Kern is put in a position where she's losing the race.

"I've addressed that, and I've not had any Oklahomans treat me different. They are good people who are going to judge me for who I am and judge me for my ability to go be a fierce advocate who's going to fight for them."

She has already set up a website in which you can make donations to her campaign and keep up with what's transpiring in her race.

She's going to need it. The Reichers will fight tooth and nail, empty their dirty politrick bag and flood Kern with cash. After losing US Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO) in the 2008election cycle they will do everything possible to keep their poster child for GLBT intolerance in that chair.

We need to be fighting even harder against the Forces of Intolerance to put a quality candidate like Brittany in the Oklahoma legislature.

Here's her bio:

The youngest of five siblings, Brittany Novotny was born on March 6, 1980, in Chickasha, Oklahoma, to Theresia and Louis Novotny. She grew up in Oklahoma City and graduated from Westmoore High School in 1998. After high school, she went on to USAO, where she worked at a local youth shelter, while also managing a full-course load. Brittany graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. in Sociology in 2002 and embarked on a career in law.

She earned her J.D. from the University of California – Hastings in 2005. Despite her time in California, Brittany saw that she could make the greatest difference as a lawyer back in her home state.

She subsequently moved back to Oklahoma City and was admitted to the Oklahoma Bar in 2005. In 2007, she started her own law practice in Oklahoma City focusing on employment and civil rights law, while also doing some pro bono work for several clients. Recently, she began in-house counsel work with the American Federation of Government Employees, Local 916.

In addition to managing her own career, Brittany has also been an active member of the Oklahoma Democratic Party. As a member of the Young Democrats, she serves as the National Committeewoman and the chair of the YDO LGBT caucus.

Brittany is a hard-working Democrat dedicated to improving Oklahoma for subsequent generations. She has tirelessly advocated for civil liberties and equality within the state, recently receiving the 2009 Leadership Award for Community Action from RAIN Oklahoma, and has become a mainstay of Oklahoma politics."

Congratulations, Brittany! If I lived in your district you'd definitely have my vote. I'll have to vote with my dollars instead.

Looking forward to meeting you one day and best of luck in your quest to get elected to the Oklahoma House.

The story of East Cleveland, Ohio mayor Eric Brewer has blown up all over the Net.

This politrick has cost him his shot at getting reelected. He was trounced by his opponent in the primary, and in East Cleveland winning the primary is tantamount to winning the election in November.

One of the major lessons I want to point out is don't take embarrassing digital photos of yourself. They can come back to haunt you at an inopportune time and once they hit the Net, they are impossible to stop.

You especially want to keep embarrassing digital photos of yourself secure if you were an investigative reporter and made a lot of enemies during that job and in your first term in the mayor's chair.

That being said, I'm going to focus on Mayor Brewer the human being for a minute.

I know what it's like to be yanked out of the closet. It's stressful and not fun. But in Mayor Brewer's case it is happening in the most publicly dehumanizing way possible.

Crossdressing isn't illegal. But for people with gender issues it's how we begin to deal with the internal conflicts within us. Once you realize that your need to express your femininity goes beyond weekend warrior status or the occasional gender conference, that's when you begin to ponder the possibility that you might be trans and move on to the next evolutionary steps in the process.

Is Mayor Eric seriously contemplating becoming Erica on a permanent basis? Hard to make that call from here because only God and Mayor Brewer knows. One of the things I noted when I pulled up his bio is that he's single and has one child.

It stinks that the child is going to suffer thanks to this politrick, and there may be other ripple effects from this that negatively impact the child.

It also doesn't help that East Cleveland is predominately Black and some of my peeps tend to be less than enlightened on gender identity issues. While peeps claimed the unverified photos didn't matter in public, in the privacy of the voting booth they voted for his opponent by a 2-1 margin.

That's how you reward a mayor that has a vision for where he wanted to take the city.

He cleaned up corruption, opened up the government, lowered water rates, and made changes in the police department that have reduced the serious crime rate in East Cleveland by 40 to 75 percent.

Nope, the mayor is an alleged crossdresser, so he's gotta go.

The Mayor's term isn't up until January 2010, so he sill gets to finish out whatever plans he had in motion for East Cleveland. It's also going to be interesting to see how this story develops and see if Mayor Brewer actually begins a gender transition as a result.

And if incoming mayor Gary Norton, Jr. had something to do with those photos being leaked, you know what they say about karma.

There was a recent CBS News poll taken that asked its respondents what woman would they most like to trade places with for a week.

The poll was based on a nationwide random sample of 1,097 respondents and conducted by phone between August 27-31.

In that poll First Lady Michelle Obama was the winner, chosen by 26 percent of respondents. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was picked by 16 percent of the poll respondents, followed by actress Angelina Jolie at 13 percent and singer Beyonce selected by 12 percent.

So that begs the question, what woman would I like to trade places with for a week?

That's a damned good question. During the time I have compiled this blog I've written about many of the cis and trans women I admire in variousblogposts.

But the First Lady definitely would be at the top of my list. I also like actresses such as Kerry Washington for their combination of beauty, style and brains.

There are various congresswomen and other political women I'd love to be such as Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Canadian Governor General Michaelle Jean, and Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

My list includes writers such as Kayla Perrin and people such as Diahann Carroll and Nichelle Nichols.

There are also some athletes I wouldn't mind walking in their pumps for a week such as Candace Parker and the Williams sisters.

I would have liked to experience Crystle Stewart's life during the time she was the reigning Miss USA. Yep, even after her embarrassing fall during the 2008 Miss Universe Pageant that probably cost her the crown.

And yes, Maya Angelou, Oprah and Tyra are on my list as well as power sisters such as Desiree Rogers and Valerie Jarrett.

There are also transwomen on my personal list as well that I admire and wouldn't mind being in their pumps for a week as well.

Of course a few models make the cut such as Iman. There are also various female relatives, classmates, friends and co-workers past and present whose beauty, brains and style I admire.

There's even a long list of women who are no longer here such as Coretta Scott King, Phyllis Hyman, Octavia St. Laurent, Florence Griffith-Joyner and Rep. Barbara Jordan who I would have liked to experience their lives for a week as well.

There are so many that I admire for different reasons it's hard to pick just one.

The San Antonio born Jahna was part of the Crazy Girls Revue at the Riviera in Las Vegas starting in the late 1980s. She was voted Las Vegas' Sexiest Showgirl in 1991 and things were going well for her until she was outed by the tabloid TV show A Current Affair a year later.

She resurfaced in 2004 after moving to Hawaii and making early 90's guest appearances on several talk shows, an episode of NYPD Blue and nightclub singing stints.

She was the hostess of The World's Most Beautiful Transsexual Contest' that was documented in the film Trantasia.

Jahna was working on an autobiography and reviving her singing career when she tragically died of an accidental drug overdose in Las Vegas on January 24, 2008.

Monday, September 28, 2009

U of L's 2009 Pride Week will conclude later today probably to the mixed sadness and relief of everyone involved in the planning of it.

But like all good things, they come to an end.

The successful ten day Pride Week run concludes with a noon panel discussion at U of L's Brandeis School of Law. It will take place in Room 275 was hosted by the Law School Diversity Committee and the Lambda Law Caucus.

One of the participants will be my roomie Dawn Wilson, or 'Number One' as me and Dr. Richmond call her. The discussion topic will be 'Keys to the Door: ENDA, Transgender Identity, and Community'.

So if you're interested in this closing event for U of L Pride Week, check it out.

One of the fallacies of modern day politics is that Texas has always been a rock ribbed solid red conservative state.

We also suffered through the indignity of a 2000 election cycle of having no filed Democratic candidates for high statewide offices and the Delays and GOP friends gloating about it.

While there have always been areas of the state that were more conservative than others, Texas in reality has more progressive-populist roots than conservative ones.

I grew up during the time when Texas routinely produced forward thinking leaders such as Sen. and later President Lyndon B. Johnson, Rep. Sam Rayburn, Rep. Albert Thomas, Sen. Ralph Yarborough, Rep. Barbara Jordan, Rep, Mickey Leland, and Gov. Ann Richards.

We had Democrats such as Billie “The Godmother” Carr. She fought a pitched battle for liberal progressive voices to be heard in the party and be more inclusive to all Texans. She also acted as a mentor to future president Bill Clinton when he arrived in 1972 to help run the McGovern campaign in the Lone Star State.

Unfortunately we are currently suffering under a decade of GOP misrule of my birth state, but there are signs that the Texas Democratic Party has gotten up off the political canvas.

The fight has begun to take back Texas despite the fact we haven't won a major statewide office in over a decade.

And not a moment too soon. The Texas GOP has always been more radical right wing than the national one, and their secession talk and party platforms only highlight that fact.

The momentum is building in the Texas Dems direction. The good people of the Lone State State are tiring of GOP mismanagement of the state and the negative perceptions of Texans as intolerant yahoos.

It is leading to a throw the GOP Rascals Out attitude that has began in several counties. The eyebrow raising one was Dallas County in 2006.

Dallas County was Republican before it was even cool to openly call yourself one, but in that year they threw all the GOP rascals out of every city, county and judicial seat The pattern has repeated itself in Hays County and several others, and we have begun the process in Harris County as well.

Demographic trend have already made Texas a majority-minority state, and that will be confirmed after next year's census.

So the 2010 election cycle will be an interesting one back home. I definitely want to see GOP mismanagement of my birth state end and it turn blue in 2012 and beyond.

The International Olympic Committee meeting to determine who gets the 2016 Summer Olympics will be held on Friday and the Chicago 2016 delegation is hard at work trying to land the bid.

According to Olympic bid watchers it has devolved to a competition between Rio de Janeiro and Chicago, and it's anybody's guess which way the 106 members of the IOC will vote. The only thing anyone can say with certainty is that it will take multiple ballots and it will be close.

With rumors flying a high IOC official stated Chicago won't get the bid unless the prez appears in Copenhagen despite comments from IOC President Jacques Rogge to the contrary, President Obama decided to make the trip.

Chicago 2016 officials were pleased to announce that President Obama would be joining First Lady Michelle Obama, White House senior adviser and former Chicago 2016 vice president Valerie Jarrett, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, and Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood in Copenhagen Friday to help push the Chicago bid to a hopefully successful conclusion.

Chicago 2016 Chair Patrick Ryan stated, "There is no greater expression of the support our bid enjoys, from the highest levels of government and throughout our country, than to have President Obama join us in Copenhagen for the pinnacle moment in our bid. We are honored that President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will be with us to extend a hand of friendship on behalf of our nation and the city of Chicago as we seek to welcome the world for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games".

Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley said, "President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama symbolize the hope, opportunity and inspiration that makes Chicago great, and we are honored to have two of our city's most accomplished residents leading our delegation in Copenhagen. Who better to share with members of the International Olympic Committee the commitment and enthusiasm Chicago has for the Olympic and Paralympic Movement than the President and First Lady".

Oprah Winfrey has also announced she would be heading to Copenhagen as well to help push the Chicago Olympic bid, and the leadership is happy to have her along as well.

Valerie Jarrett, who was the vice chair of Chicago 2016 prior to becoming a senior adviser in the Obama administration stated, "Oprah will have a full schedule from the time she hits the ground as well. I think that she is an international icon, widely respected throughout the world and her presence, and her willingness to put her reputation behind Chicago, a city she both calls home and loves and knows so well, I think will have a very significant impact on the IOC."

We'll find out how much of an impact they all had on the IOC on Friday

Sunday, September 27, 2009

We are guaranteed equal protection by the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution. Free and equal people do not bargain for or prioritize our rights, so we are coming to DC this October 10-11 to demand equal protection in all matters governed by civil law in all 50 states. Now.

The march is not our final destination. It is our first step toward building a national grassroots network that will continue organizing until we have achieved full equality.

The Equality March is fast approaching. It's amazing how fast this has been put together, the number of sponsors compiled, and the long list of prominent activists, GLBT bloggers and organizations that have declared their support for the march that will take place October 11-12 in our nation's capital.

You'll notice that I'm not one of them.

I think the Equality March is a good idea. I just question its value and whether it will achieve its goal of full equality.

It also depends on what the organizers definition of 'full equality' is as well.

There's a group in Kalamazoo, MI battling the Forces of Intolerance that could use some major help, volunteers and cash in keeping their GLBT law on the books.

But what do you see when you click on the NEM website? Links to the No on 1 Maine campaign and none to One Kalamazoo.

So as I suspect, I'm anticipating and willing to put money on is that the majority of the messages we'll hear on that day will overwhelmingly pertain to and be about marriage equality.

That has led to my ambivalence about this march.

My ambivalence is fueled by several factors. It's being timed for a weekend in which Congress is on a holiday recess. Translation; there will be no congrescritters in town.

I understand the planners wanted to mark the 30th anniversary of the first national march on Washington for LGBT Rights and National Coming Out Day. But we have pending ENDA and hate crimes legislation being considered in Congress right now that could have benefited from a swarm of GLBT citizens hitting the Hill to speak to congressmembers about it

It's legislation that unlike marriage equality will benefit a wide spectrum of the GLBT community.

It is diverting scarce community financial resources in the midst of a recession.

“We will continue this fight in every state, in every county, every city and every town, but we are now determined to take this fight to the federal government, to our President Barack Obama, to the Congress and the Supreme Court of the United States.”

NEM organizer Cleve Jones, May 31, 2009, Fresno, California

Reading that quote, noting the action alert on the NEM website soliciting support of Rep. Jerrod Nadler's DOMA repeal bill and the silence on ENDA and hate crimes legislation has only crystallized that impression, not dispelled it.

“The Constitution’s promise to all citizens certainly extends to LGBT Americans-particularly the Fourteenth Amendment’s promise of equal protection of the laws.” President Barack Obama

While I agree with the concept of emphasizing the 14th Amendment to overturn anti- GLBT laws, I think the major thrust of this movement should be a cause that covers the broadest section of our coalition, securing ENDA and hate crimes legislation.

While we were sleeping on this side of the Pond, the Germans were headed to the polls today. The results were the opposite of what happened in the States and Japan.

German voters reelected their popular chancellor Angela Merkel to a second term.

While Merkel's Christian Democratic Union party CDU/CSU lost some support from the 35.2% they garnered in 2005 to 33%, another coalition partner, the pro-business Free Democrats (FDU) share of the German electorate rose from 9.8% to 14.5%

That means the center-right coalition she put together has a narrow majority over the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the two other major leftist parties which increased their share of the vote. The Greens picked up 12% white the Left grabbed 10% of the German electorate

"My understanding was, and my understanding is, that I want to be the chancellor of all Germans," Merkel told supporters, adding that protecting and creating jobs "will be my highest aim."

This election was also occurring at a critical time for Europe's largest economy, which is like everywhere else on the planet recovering from its deepest recession of the post-war era.

The resulting center-right government she's forming will allow her to pursue more conservative policies such as extending the life of German nuclear plants and renewing the increasingly controversial deployment of German troops to Afghanistan.

The last time a center right government led Germany was when Helmut Kohl was chancellor from 1982-1998.

Her challenger in the vote was Social Democrat (SPD) Frank-Walter Steinmeier. He appeared on television shortly after the first projections came out and conceded that his party had suffered a "bitter defeat", garnering only 22.5% support.

Merkel has ruled for the past four years in a "grand coalition" with the SPD but can now end that partnership and work with the FDP. She has stated that it's a grouping better placed to help nurture Europe's largest economy back to health.

I enjoyed the stress inducing 29-28 win over Texas Tech last night just like everybody else in Cougar Nation.

It pad off with another rise in the AP rankings

The University of Houston jumped from Number 17 to Number 12 in the latest AP Poll and moved to Number 15 on the USA Today College coaches poll.

The Coogs take their football act on the road during the month of October. They play their C-USA opener in El Paso October 3 versus UTEP. They follow that up with an October 10 game in Starkville, MS against Mississippi State from the SEC, and another C-USA road game in the Superdome against Tulane.

They end the month at the Rob playing SMU for homecoming on October 24 and Southern Mississippi on Halloween.

It's going to be the most important month for UH football in decades, and the stakes get higher with every win. But if they can get through it, a possible C-USA title and BCS bowl berth may be in sight.

Eat 'em up!

And by the way, can y'all sign Coach Sumlin to a long term contract ASAP?

It was a NBC show that debuted on March 30, 1964 with Art Fleming as its host. I used to watch it back in the day until it went off the air in 1975.

Jeopardy! was revived and debuted in its current format on September 10, 1984 with host Alex Trebek. It is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the revival during the 2008-09 television season.

I am such a fan of the show I bought the computer version of it a few years ago, and beat it down to win $26,000 virtual dollars.

Like all Jeopardy! fans I play along and try to answer the questions before the contestants do. I got so good at it that one day during my airline days I was competing with one of my coworkers Rick Owen. At that time Jeopardy! came on in Houston at 3;30 PM and we had a break during that period.

Both of us were in such a zone that day the rest of the peeps in the ticket counter breakroom where were we matched up in this battle of wits would wait for one of us to speak before they would chime in with their answer.

After it was over, my co workers offered to take up a collection for me and Oscar's (Rick's nickname) hotel bills so that we could fly to LA and break the Jeopardy! bank.

Yeah yeah, I know. Geek moment. But I saw it (and still do) as an excellent opportunity to test and hone my knowledge.

And yeah, I like Alex Trebek as the host.

I actually tried to audition for Jeopardy! when they had contestant searches in Houston and Louisville. There were 3,000 people at the Houston one and 2,500 at the one they held here in Louisville and I unfortunately had to be at work on the days they held them.

I know they are looking for African descended contestants on the show, so maybe I'll pursue that dream of appearing on Jeopardy and taking out Ken Jennings record.

I said Texas Tech was going to be a big test for the Number 17 ranked Coogs, and they passed it with flying colors.

Tech fell to the Coogs 29-28 and the beautiful part was that we knocked off another Big 12 school. It they keep winning, I won't be able to go to Memphis to see the Coogs, it will be a BCS bowl game.

With a crowd of 32,113 looking on that included my classmates and Phi Slama Jama heroes Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler as honorary game captains, the 3-0 Coogs showed a national television audience that we are for real.

Tech gave us everything we wanted and then some. UH trailed Tech 21-10 at the half but kept chipping away at the Red Raiders.

After the defense came up big on a critical fourth and goal stop with 5:43 left in the game and Tech leading 28-23, Case Keenum led the Coogs on a drive that will live in Cougar fans hearts forever.

The 16 play, 95-yard game winning drive featured Keenum scrambling for a first down on a third-and-10 play and finding Patrick Edwards for 7 of his 443 passing yards on a critical fourth-and-3 play to keep the drive alive.

Keenum scored on a quarterback draw with 49 seconds left. A Hail Mary for Tech wasn't answered and the celebration was on at the Rob as the Cougars beat Texas Tech for the first time since 1990.

To all you haters who keep dissing the Cougars by sneering we play in a 'dinky little conference', not our fault UH was dissed and kept out of the Big 12.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

No matter how many time I say that what I write is what I'm thinking at the moment I penned the piece, too many times I'll get people who will try to decipher it as if I typed my words on a World War II era Enigma code machine.

The header on this blog states:

News, opinions commentary and a little creative writing from an African-American transwoman about the world around her.

While I'm happy that peeps think my writing is valuable enough to read, pontificate on and peruse, I'm not kidding when I say that I'm blunt and straight to the point about putting my thoughts down in this blog.

That means whatever I'm thinking about concerning the issues of the day is what gets fashioned into a post and goes up on TransGriot (or whatever blog I'm posting to) at that particular time and date.

You can't read my mind. If you have that ability, I suggest you call up the feds, have them pay you a seven figure salary and give you a high level security clearance. That way your abilities can be used to serve the country as you read the minds of various world leaders and our enemies.

So don't go off on some wild tangent about what you think I said or get it twisted.

What I wrote is exactly what I'm thinking.

That's a starting point for healthy debate and discussion about those issues whether you agree or disagree with the conclusions I came up with.

She a former beauty queen (Miss District of Columbia USA 2004) and lobbyist who appears on Faux News, and wrote a waste of trees called 'Bamboozled.'

I would submit that the only person that's been bamboozled is Angela.

Logic and reality challenged Black conservatives can dish out the criticism, but they can't take it. She's still running from a now two year old debate challenge from the Field Negro, who called her on her crap.

But back to our Saturday Sellout.

When it's a Black woman or Black people in general that need to be attacked by the conservafools, or Faux news wants to look more 'diverse', Angela is their go to chick.

Here's a sample of Angela's handiwork.

She not only made the NEWS One Top Five Fox News Uncle Toms list, she worked for now embattled senator John Ensign (R-NV).

She defended comedian Jackie Mason for uttering the 'schvartzer' slur during a comedy routine, compared the FLOTUS to a gangsta rapper, tried to back the ludicrous claims that the hate on Obama Rally had 400,000 people in attendance and sided with Don Imus when he dissed the Rutgers women's B-ball team.

Angela definitely deserves an Oreo cookie when it comes to kissing up to the 'white' wing. She's also a living example of Zora Neale Hurston's commentary that 'all my skinfolk ain't my kinfolk'.

Her lips are always moving when it comes to alleged liberal misdeeds, but when confronted with the numerous instances of conservative racism and misconduct and the racism of her Fox paymasters those lips suddenly go mute.

Um, can we call the Drop Squad and have her go in for an extended session ASAP?

I've decided to start a new feature on TransGriot tomorrow called the Saturday Sellout.

I'll take the time to shine a spotlight on and highlight the people who are actively working to retard our progress as African descended people, who are collaborating with the agents of whiteness and intolerance and are getting paid for it.

While it won't be a weekly thing like the Shut Up Fool! Awards are, the Saturday Sellout will be designed to enlighten you about the peeps that may be our skinfolk, but damned sure ain't our kinfolk.

You need to know who they are, what they are up to and why they deserve the Oreo cookie they're going to get.

Many of our Uncle Thomas and Aunt Thomasinas aren't as blatanly open about it as the Supreme Court Injustice and Condoleezza Rice. Some of them try to slide below the radar before they get outed by conservatives praising their names or they show up on Faux News attacking progressive Blacks.

No more will they be allowed to do that. Time to tell it like it T-I-S is about these 'honorary white people' as Pat Buchanan called the man sitting on the Court.

It's Pride Week on the U of L campus. In addition to participating in some of the events, I've gotten the opportunity to interface with the younglings on campus as well.

It is exciting and heartwarming to see all these young leaders and GLBT kids openly and proudly living their lives while getting that paper.

U of L pride will continue until September 29, so those of you in the Louisville area still have time to show up to an event and show some love for our future leaders.

So lets move on to the people who proudly show their foolish side and let the whole world know it.

As usual, there were many worthy contenders for this week's Shut Up Fool award.

The usual trio of Limbaugh, Hannity, and Beck. Sarah Palin opened mouth and inserted her pumps in it. Michael 'Banned In Britain' Weiner, er Savage.

But this weeks Shut Up Fool! award winner is Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA).

CHURCHILL: I have a very close relative, a woman in her early forties, who did have a wonderful, high-paying job, owns her own home and is a real contributing member of society. She lost her job. Just a couple of weeks ago, she found out that she has tumors in her belly and that she needs an operation. Her doctors told her that they are growing and that she needs to get this operation quickly. She has no insurance. [...]

CANTOR: First of all I guess I would ask what the situation is in terms of income eligibility and the existing programs that are out there. Because if we look at the uninsured that are out there right now, there is probably 23, 24% of the uninsured that is already eligible for an existing government program [...] Beyond that, I know that there are programs, there are charitable organizations, there are hospitals here who do provide charity care if there’s an instance of indigency and the individual is not eligible for existing programs that there can be some cooperative effort. No one in this country, given who we are, should be sitting without an option to be addressed.

Hello? Did you hear your constituent tell you that her family member needs an IMMEDIATE operation?

But that's 'compassionate conservatism' at its finest. And Cantor is supposed to be their 'Great White Hope' in terms of potential GOP presidential leadership?

Thanks, but no thanks.

You should have already learned by now, to paraphrase my homegirl Vanessa Edwards Foster, the only 'compassion' conservatives feel are for corporations and other vanilla flavored conservatives.

Dear Drs. Schatzberg and Bernstein:I am a writer and consultant on gender diversity issues in medical and mental health policy, and I am asking the American Psychiatric Association to affirm human dignity and access to medical transition treatment for trans and gender variant individuals in public position statements.

To introduce myself, I am the author of Gender Madness in American Psychiatry: Essays from the Struggle for Dignity (2008) and the founder of GID Reform Advocates (www.gidreform.org). I serve on advisory boards to the Matthew Shepard Foundation and TransYouth Family Allies, and I have presented papers to Annual Meetings of the American Psychiatric Association in 1998, 2003 and 2009.

I am also a transsexual woman and can speak personally to the barriers to dignity, civil justice and medical care at issue in current APA policies and diagnostic nomenclature.

The APA has a long taken strong public positions in support of oppressed minority groups. For example, in 1973 the American Psychiatric Association issued a historic position statement on “Homosexuality and Civil Rights” that had a profound impact on public opinion and defamatory stereotypes. Unfortunately, the APA has never issued a similar statement in support of trans and gender variant people, even though APA policies and DSM nomenclature have contributed to analogous barriers and stereotypes that trans and gender variant people face.

I am asking for your personal support in drafting APA position statements to clarify that gender difference is not disorder, to affirm the medical necessity of transition care, and to urge legal recognition of social gender transition:

• I ask the elected leadership and Board of Trustees of the American Psychiatric Association to affirm in a position statement that gender identity and expression which differ from assigned birth sex do not, in themselves, constitute mental disorder and imply no impairment in judgment or competence.

• I also ask the APA to follow the example of the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, and the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) by issuing a statement clarifying the medical necessity of hormonal and/or surgical transition treatments for those who suffer distress caused by deprivation of physical characteristics congruent with their gender identity. I call on the APA to urge insurance and healthcare coverage for medically prescribed transition treatment as well as ongoing and ordinary medical and mental health care.

• Finally, I ask the American Psychiatric Association to follow the example of the American Psychological Association and WPATH in opposing discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression and encouraging legal recognition of all people that is consistent with their gender identity and expression. I ask the APA to affirm in a position statement the dignity and legitimacy of individuals who have transitioned their social gender roles, regardless of their physical anatomy or assigned birth sex.

I have attached the names of well over 400 community members, leaders, clinicians, researchers, scholars and allies, who have joined me in this request through an on-line Facebook advocacy group. I have also attached copies of individual letters that I have received.

I would very much appreciate your consideration and endorsement of these position statements. Please feel free to contact me, if I can answer any questions that you have or can provide more information.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

One of the cool things about the transgender community is when you finally get to talk to people in real time that you have much admiration and respect for.

I'm blessed to have had numerous opportunities to experience that over the years, and another one came tonight thanks to U of L Pride week.

Calpernia and I met and talked during the 2004 SCC. This was the first time that Andrea and I had an opportunity to have a substantive face to face chat.

Andrea and Calpernia were here to deliver the keynote address of the ongoing U of L Pride celebration.

The 2009 edition of U of L Pride Week has had a transgender theme for most of it, and their speech focused on media issues and what their Deep Stealth Productions has done to push the positivity envelope when it comes to the images of transpeople in the media.

In addition to discussing their work and giving tips for how we transpeeps in our locales can become more media savvy when dealing with the press, we were also treated to their short film entitled Transproofed.

These women are doing work in Hollywood which is just as important as the work other trans activists are doing in their various locales educating legislators, academia, and the medical profession about our issues.

Andre Agassi when he was playing tennis had a commercial with the tag line of 'image is everything.' These ladies definitely understand that when it comes to images, Hollywood can make or break a marginalized group in that regard.

I had a blast talking to them last night and I'm looking forward to the next time our paths cross again.

TransGriot Blog Mission Statement

The TransGriot blog's mission is to become the griot of our community. I will introduce you to and talk about your African descended transbrothers and transsisters across the Diaspora, reclaim and document our chocolate flavored trans history, speak truth to power, comment on the things that impact our trans community from an Afrocentric perspective and enlighten you about the general things that go on around me and in the communities that I am a member of.

--Mission Statement compiled January 2, 2011

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The TransGriot is available for speaking engagements, college lectures, media interviews, conferences or Trans 101 education efforts for your school, business or professional organizations.

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This personal blog allows me to express my constitutionally guaranteed First Amendment free speech rights and kick knowledge to y'all at the same time on various issues.

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